Thomas Emlyn Davies – Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 28th Battalion

Private Thomas Emlyn Davies – Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 28^th Battalion

Birth and Family Background

Thomas Emlyn Davies was born in 1893 in Morriston, Glamorgan. He was the son of David Davies and Elizabeth John.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Davies family were residing at 61 Chemical Road, Morriston.
David Davies (34) was employed as an annealer in the tinplate works, while his Scottish-born wife Elizabeth (34) managed the household.

Their children were Emlyn (3), Alice I. (6), and John W. (6 months).

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the family had moved to 10 Glantawe Street, Morriston.
David Davies (44) remained an annealer, and Elizabeth (44) continued to manage the home.

The children present were Emlyn (18), employed as a shipper; Alice (16), an assistant milliner; Walter (11) and Lena (7), both at school; and Jennie (4).
Also present was a servant, Hannah Waters (26).

Emigration to Canada

1916 Canadian Census

In 1912, Emlyn Davies emigrated to Canada. By the 1916 Canadian Census, he is recorded as Thomas Emlyn, residing on Main Street, Kindersley, Saskatchewan. He was living as a lodger and working as a bank clerk, indicating a significant transition from industrial South Wales to clerical employment in prairie Canada.

Military Service

Attestation Papers

Later in 1916, Thomas Emlyn Davies enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, serving as a Private with the Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 28^th Battalion. The battalion formed part of the 6^th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 2^nd Canadian Division, and was committed to sustained front-line service on the Western Front.

Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 28^th Battalion — October 1917

In October 1917, the 28^th Battalion was heavily engaged in the Ypres Salient, Belgium, during the later stages of the Third Battle of Ypres, widely known as Passchendaele.

The battalion operated in the Potijze, Bellevue Spur, and approaches to Passchendaele Ridge, in conditions regarded as among the worst of the war. Relentless shellfire combined with autumn rain had reduced the battlefield to deep mud and flooded shell holes, making movement exhausting and evacuation of wounded extremely difficult.

Throughout the month, the 28^th Battalion took part in assaults, reliefs, and consolidation duties, advancing and holding ground under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire. Even when not attacking, casualties were constant due to shellfire, gas, and the physical toll of operating in waterlogged positions.

Medical services were severely strained. Field ambulances, including No. 6 Canadian Field Ambulance, worked under extreme pressure to evacuate wounded men across collapsing duckboard tracks. Many soldiers wounded in October succumbed to their injuries days later, reflecting both the severity of wounds and the difficulty of timely treatment.

It was during this intense phase of fighting in October 1917 that Thomas Emlyn Davies received the wounds from which he later died.

Death and Burial

Thomas Emlyn Davies
Potijze Chateau Grounds Cemetery,
West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
credit - findagrave

Thomas Emlyn Davies died of wounds on 3^rd November 1917 while under the care of No. 6 Canadian Field Ambulance. He is buried at Potijze Chateau Grounds Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

His life traces a path from industrial Morriston to prairie Canada, and finally to the mud-choked battlefields of Flanders, commemorating a Welsh-born emigrant whose death reflects the delayed and devastating toll of the Passchendaele fighting on Canadian infantry units